Desolate Barns of the American West: Abandoned Institutions of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana

This edition represents a photographic celebration of damaged and often abandoned barns and silos located within the rural Western United States. Over fifty structures are photographed amidst a backdrop of panoramic mountains, turbulent rivers and sagebrush flatlands. Many are inaccessible via roadways or difficult to approach due to private property restrictions. The captures images are spread over California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. The objective of this photography project is to isolate the abandoned and frequently decaying remnants of a uniquely national architecture treasure. Barns and silos represent an iconic and important American rural tradition. An altered historic frontier has left many of these monoliths forsaken and deteriorating organically into the landscape. American agriculture has become forever transformed by advanced machinery, technology and the consolidation of land holdings. These remaining stately buildings represent a crossroads between traditional rural lifestyle and the effects of modernity. In numerous instances, timber framed structures undergo a gradual deterioration before collapsing into splinted heaps. Their disintegrating structural supports corrode until gravity ultimately prevails. The wood remnants are often simply left to blend harmoniously into the natural surroundings. The isolation and expansive landscape of the American northwest provides an evocative comparison to contemporary confined urban and suburban environments. The continuity of these utilitarian structures remains timeless in spite of their condition.